Being just a second-year quarterback and the coach being a two-time division champion and from the New England Patriots, there is a perception that Bill O’Brien doesn’t let Houston Texans signal caller Deshaun Watson have very much freedom to call plays. However, the coach explained to the media Wednesday just how much latitude his field general has.

“He has a lot of freedom,” O’Brien said. “No quarterback has the playbook at his disposal — 50 plays for one play-call — that’s not what I mean, but he has the ability to — because of how hard he works and how much time we all spend together, we’re all trying to see it through the same set of eyes,” O’Brien said.

The fifth-year coach, who will now have gone to the playoffs with three different quarterbacks each season, trusts what Watson sees because of his presence on the field; it provides a different perspective and another set of eyes from another vantage.

Said O’Brien: “When you’re out on the field, sometimes the quarterback can see it better than we on the sideline. So, it’s important for him to have the ability to make this adjustment, change this, do this, do that. That’s part of the trust. When you’re talking during the week, ‘Hey, what do you think about this?’ ‘Yeah, this is what I’d do if they do this.’ OK, there’s a trusting answer. Like, I trust that answer. That’s what it’s all about.”

The fact that Watson has spent as much time in the facility throughout the off-season trying to get on the same page as his coach is what helps create the cohesion between play-caller and signal caller.

He’s a very bright guy,” O’Brien said of the former 2017 first-round pick from Clemson. “Like I said after the game on Sunday, he loves the football field and he sees things very well, so we give him the ability to change things, no doubt about it.”

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